peculiar || g.blythe [ON HOLD]

1||new beginnings

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"Mother! Mother, you're going to be late!" I hollered from upstairs. My mother was supposed to be attending a tea with a well respected group in our new home, the 'Progressive Mothers Sewing Club'. The name was a bit of an oxymoron, in my opinion.

My mother was downstairs, decorating our new home, painting patterns on our walls with potatoes. You see, my mother and I are not what you would call ordinary. Truly, we're anything but. We wear what we want, say what we want and do what we want, not what society normalizes. 

We used to live on the mainland, but have moved to the small town of Avonlea for many reasons. The first reason being mother's new job as a teacher. She had always been my teacher, no matter if it were in a classroom or in the comfort of our own home. The other reasons being for a fresh start. There was always something about small towns that I just loved. Yes, the city was lovely and there were much more people, but we wanted a change.

"Oh dear!" I heard my mother say. "I'll be back around suppertime. Goodbye, Belle!" She called back before I heard the front door shut a few seconds later. 'Belle' is short for Arabella. I was named after my grandmother, who unfortunately passed away.

My mother and father had me when they were quite young. Unfortunately, my father passed away about a year ago. It's been a difficult time for both my mother and I, but we've been able to get through it. 

I currently sat at my desk, decorating my new room with personal touches. I love flowers. There are so many beautiful things about them. I believe that a single flower is a token of happiness. And if you plant flowers in other's gardens, your life becomes a bouquet. 

I lay little white flowers as a decoration on my dresser. A bunting of dried daisies hung across my window.

I thought about my new school. Since Avonlea was such a small town, I could only expect that the children there would have known each other since they were very young. I wonder what my classmates will be like. Will they be kind? I wonder if I will be able to make friends. I wonder what they will think of my mother's peculiar teaching methods. 

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Today was the day. First day at our new school. A fresh start. Was I nervous? A little bit. I just hoped that the children here were nothing like the so called 'Progressive Mothers' at my mother's tea yesterday. She told me they were quite judgmental. 

"Arabella, are you nearly ready?" My mother called from downstairs. It wasn't very proper to shout, but as I mentioned earlier, my mother and I didn't care.

"Coming, mother!" I replied as I quickly stepped down the stairs. I wore my brown hair half up, half down, a couple of daisies threaded through the strands that went back. I found them beautiful. I wore a light pink simple dress, with a white apron over it. Although I did enjoy wearing trousers from time to time, I found it 'safer' to wear a dress to school. Wouldn't want to cause a scandal, now would we?